Saucy Surprise

Ingredients*
1/2 onion diced 3 ways extra fine
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon diced green bell or long pepper (just a hint)
½ tablespoon red hot pepper cut in to tiny bits using kitchen scissors (again, just a hint, this is not a hot sauce)
1/2 tablespoon lemon zest and tiny bit of juice
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cream of mushroom soup or the mix+ h2o
4 teaspoon salt
3 pinches pepper

*as always an approximation of measurements

Method
Dice onion and garlic as demonstrated in video. Let simmer in butter until soft.
Add peppers and lemons. Add more butter and/or water when necessary.
Add mushroom soup. Add salt and pepper to taste Let sauce thicken. It sauce becomes too thick add more water and or butter.

Recommended with poultry, eggs, and seafood
*Variation: add white wine

Dinner Saturday October 17th

Ingredients:

Chicken breast
Butter
Crème fraiche
1 long green pepper
2 carrots, grated
1 potato, steamed/boiled and sliced
5 or so cherry tomatoes quartered
2 cups slice mushrooms
¼ vidalia onion diced
2 green onions cut finely with kitchen scissors
½ a hot green pepper (not too hot, add more according to preference)
1 small fresh ginger root peeled and chopped finely
2 garlic cloves diced
1 chicken bullion cube
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon curry (turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, pepper, mustard, onion, allspice, fenugreek, nutmeg, garlic, hot chili, cloves)
1 handful of white raisons
pinch salt
pinch pepper
pinch ground red hot pepper

Vermicelli or rice


Method:


In a frying pan, melt butter; add onions, garlic, and ginger. Let simmer a few minutes, add green peppers and carrots, bullion, turmeric, cumin, S & P, let cook on low heat until veggies become softened, add some water if mixture appears dry. Meanwhile, steam a potato until quite soft and add cherry tomatoes.

In a separate pan, melt butter, add raisons and curry. Cook chicken in this pan.

Slice potatoes and mix in with veggies.

When chicken is cooked, add crème fraîche and simmer on low heat.

Boil water for vermicelli.

Serve chicken and curry crème on top of vermicelli with veggies on the side.


Some nice milky masala tea afterwards makes a sweet finish.

Lentil-y Lunch

Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast
1 can lentils prepared and salted
½ onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger
2 carrots, diced
a few cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
tablespoon cumin
3 leafy sprigs of cilantro, cut finely (use kitchen-herb sissors)
pinch pepper
pinch ground hot red pepper
1 cup water

Method:

Let ingredients slow-cook on low heat for about an hour.

White Chili

This is the first dish that I made in my new home, a small, one room apartment in Rabat, Morocco, that wasn’t eggs. I shared it with a friend, who told me he was sorry he couldn’t eat more. I hope you have a similar reaction.

Prep time: about 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast
1 can white beans (“haricots blancs”) prepared and salted
½ onion, finely chopped
1 chicken bullion cube
2 carrots, diced
½ cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
tablespoon cumin
½ a hot green pepper, diced (more or less to taste)
small handful cilantro, cut finely (use kitchen-herb sissors)
pinch pepper
water
milk

Method:

In a pot, let ½ cup water, chicken bullion, carrots, and onions simmer.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a frying pan and add garlic. Chop up chicken and sauté in garlic butter. Add cherry tomatoes and let simmer for 5-10 minutes

Add white beans, cumin, and hot green pepper to main pot with veggies. Stir and simmer.

Add contents of frying pan to main pot. Stir and add ciltantro. Let simmer a few minutes, add between 1 and ½ cup milk and let simmer on low heat for 10 minutes

Super easy but delicious (Moroccan) eggs- dinner

I made this for many consecutive meals during my first week in my new apartment in Morocco. It’s cheap, tastes good and it’s fairly easy and quick to make. Later I found out that making eggs and tomatoes is a very common dish Moroccan women make when they don’t feel like cooking. What a coincidence.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole canned tomatoes
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove fresh garlic, diced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
In a frying pan let tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and spices simmer for about 5 minutes. Add eggs and let cook on med-low heat until they cook they way you like them.

Eat with your hands, sopping up sauce and eggs with fresh bread.

Mango-Scallion Sauce

Ingredients:

Chopped mangos and mango juice

Chopped scallions

Fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper

Mexican hot sauce (Valentina, Chulula) to taste

Method

Simmer ingredients in a pot until scallions soften and juice thickens.

Add to grilled shrimp and chicken.

Dawn and Michael’s 30th Anniversary Trifle

Similar to Leah’s potluck surprise with some variation.

Ingredients:

Juice from ½ a lime
Powdered sugar
Vanilla
Ladyfingers
Strawberries
Juice from strawberries
French Brandy
White chocolate
Dark chocolate
milk

Method:

In trifle pan, put lime juice, dusting of powdered sugar and a spritz of vanilla. Place 1 layer of ladyfingers. Than add on layer of strawberries. On top strawberries place another layer of ladyfingers and sprinkle some French brandy and strawberry juice.

In a Pyrex microwaveable pour-spout measuring cup, melt white chocolate, dark chocolate and some milk in the microwave. Pour melted mixture on top of the trifle, covering it. Chill in fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

Pork marinade

1 handful fresh rosemary

1 small fresh tomato

2 garlic cloves

2 roasted red peppers + some of the oil

blend in blender or food processor

Steak Marinade

2 cloves garlic

black pepper

green onion bulbs crushed w/ garlic press

butter

water

sour cream

Simmer in sauce pan for 5 minutes. Let cool a bit. While marinade/sauce is cooling, tenderize steak. Let steak marinade in fridge for a few hours before grilling.

Stone Soup

When I was in elementary school in upstate New York, Native American heritage was a large part of the curriculum. We learned about the local tribes, specifically the Mohawk, Iroquois and Algonquin. We visited Tepees, Wigwams, and Longhouses, and had guest Native Americans come to our school. We learned about how Native Americans used every part of the animal; meat for food, skins for clothes, bones for tools; no part was wasted.

One of my favorite stories, or at least one of the stories I remember well from childhood, was “Stone Soup”. In the story a clever beggar or three miserly soldiers (depends on who is telling the folktale) tell villagers that they are making “stone soup” by which a stone is set to boil in a big pot of water. They tell the villagers that this soup is particularly delicious, but it may need a bit of onion. One villager agrees to contribute an onion and so the story goes. At the end, the “stone soup” is fit for savoring, made not of stones but of the fresh vegetables, meat, and herbs that various villagers donate.

I think that these two lessons, of conservation and collaboration, subliminally affect my cooking ethic.

Concocting soup is an excellent way to re-use leftovers, and “doctoring up” an ordinary can of soup can make for a quite satisfying and frugal meal.

Today I made my own Stone Soup:

Ingredients:

Base- 1 can chicken noodle (Wolfgang Puck)

1 can (fresh is better) straw mushrooms

Celery and carrots, finely chopped

Left over chicken

Left over steamed broccoli (pureed in a food processor with some green onion)

Buttermilk (maybe a cup)

Water

Garlic

Sage

Fresh ground black pepper

Sea salt

Method:

Your discretion! Maybe you have roast beef, onions, potatoes and some left-over red wine; perfect! The beauty of this kind of soup is that it takes on new character each time you make it. Add water to desired consistency and spices to taste. “Stone Soup” is very versatile; like the Iroquois, use what you have (left over meat, veggies, rice, pasta etc) and like the villagers, bring the ingredients together harmoniously to make something new. It’s up to you! Bon appetit!

Mambo Italiano Tomato sauce

Simple, Fresh

Ingredients:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S-7Ap6J_FU&feature=related
Tomatoes (fresh from the garden)
Thyme springs
Basil
Olive oil
Garlic

salt and pepper

Method:

Play some Dean Martin, sing, dance
In a frying pan, add some oil
Take thyme leaves off of a handful of sprigs
Use small kitchen scissors to cut a handful of fresh basil leaves into slivers
Crush one garlic clove
Let everything simmer in the oil as you cut up the tomatoes (number depends on the size, enough to ¾ fill the pan)
Add chopped tomatoes to herbs and oil and stir

add S&P to taste
Let the tomatoes reduce to a sauce.

Enjoy with pasta or incorporate into another dish (ie a parmesan)

Moussaka diali مسقعۃ ديالي

For more information on Moussaka, click here


Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground beef


3 ripe tomatoes


1 lb eggplant (4-5 medium sized ones)


1 onion

grated mozzarella cheese

Labna middle eastern style yogurt spread Ziyad brand

2 garlic cloves

thyme

basil

salt, pepper

olive oil

Method:

Peel and slice eggplants sautee/ brown them slightly in a frying pan with olive oil

Slice tomatoes

Chop onion and blend in food processor with 5 (small handful) fresh basil leaves and a touch of marjoram

Crush garlic cloves and add them to a frying pan. Brown beef in frying pan with garlic

...

Layer ingredients in a casserole dish or a Tajine or in a creuset in the following manner:

Line the bottom with tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil.

Arrange some eggplants on top, sprinkle some thyme, salt and pepper.

Spread on some blended onion/basil

Add some ground beef

Add Labna yogurt by cutting pieces off of a spoon, arranging pieces evenly

Add layer of grated mozzarella

Repeat

Bake in oven (medium heat) or grill until cheese browns

Fried Green Tomatoes- easy version

While this video certainly offers some exhaustive instructions on how to make fried green tomatoes, my version is simpler and less time consuming.


Ingredients:


Green tomatoes

Buttermilk

Cornmeal based fish fry (cornmeal, corn flour, spices)

olive oil

garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

Method:


Slice green tomatoes


Put slices in bowl with buttermilk and let them soak for a few hours (or overnight) in the fridge



Put olive oil in fry pan on medium heat (hot enough to fry-oil will crackle and spit with the addition of water)


Sprinkle a bit of garlic powder to taste



Coat each side of the buttermilked tomato slices in the fish fry mix, place in hot oil and turn so each side is "golden brown"



Serve with hot sauce or cool Ranch dressing (you can use the buttermilk to make some fresh!)

Leah’s Birthday Potluck Surprise

This trifle recipe is a cool, no-bake dessert, which is very easy to assemble.

Ingredients:

1 lemon

powdered sugar (or splenda)

1 box instant lemon custard/ pie filling and 1 ¾ cup milk (can use sugar free)

fresh or frozen strawberries

lady fingers

Method :

If strawberries are frozen, take them out to thaw

Make lemon pie filling and put in fridge to chill

Squeeze out the juice from ½ of the lemon into a square, glass Pyrex pan

Put some powdered sugar into a sifter, and sift some over lemon juice until sweetened. You might add some of the extra juice from the strawberries.

Line the bottom of pan with lady fingers

Layer lemon pie filling over lady fingers

Arrange strawberries over lemon pie filling

Squeeze juice from the other ½ of lemon over the strawberries and repeat sprinkling of powdered sugar

*may be served with whipped cream
* drizzling Limoncello is also recommended

Berry Good Sangria

Ingredients:

1 Florida Juice orange, sliced in thin rounds
½ a lemon, sliced in rounds
¼ cup fresh mango, cut into small chunks
a sprinkling of blueberries
2 handfuls of Black Raspberries (not blackberries)
2 cups Libby’s Cranberry & Pomegranate juice
2/3 a bottle of white wine, I used this
2 capfuls of Bacardi Rum

Add all ingredients together in a Sangria pitcher like the one in the picture above and let sit at least a few hours (a Spanish woman I know lets her Sangria sit overnight) in the fridge before serving.

Citrus–Mint Iced Tea

In a regular sized tea pot brew:

2 bags of regular, plain black tea
add lemon or orange rinds
add a handful (or two) or fresh mint leaves
Add boiling hot water and let steep.
Pour into pitcher over a sieve to strain out any stray mint leaves or tea if you use loose-leaf.
Add sugar or sweetener and either serve over ice or let cool in the fridge.
* You could add a tiny bit of vanilla extract too.

onion-broccoli dip

Fresh steamed vegetables are nice, when they are just that, fresh. What happens if you have left-overs? They usually become “science experiments” because no one wants to re-heat and eat them. Here’s an idea: use them to make dip. It’s easy and makes a snack/party food a bit more nutritious.

Make an onion dip:
1 16oz container of sour cream
1 packet of French onion soup mix (click here to make your own)

Then use a food-processor to add any left-over veggies. I used steamed broccoli, but you could use most any vegetable (s) including left-over salads.

Beef Tajine

http://www.recipezaar.com/Fragrant-Moroccan-Beef-Date-Honey-and-Prune-Tagine-Crock-Pot-191946



This was my guide for making a Beef Tajine at home, as with most recipes I did not follow it to the letter. The first time I made it I didn't have prunes so I used currants instead. Also the recipes calls for a pint of stock, which proved to make the Tajine too watery, so this time I only used about a cup of hot water to dissolve the bullion. When I browned the beef, I did so with olive oil and 3 cloves are garlic diced. "Fresh coriander" is really cilantro; actually coriander and cilantro are the same plant. This is helpful because you can find cilantro in the grocery store but not "fresh coriander". I only used a sprinkling of chopped dates and I skipped the honey. I used plain, unroasted almonds and I added some olives. I only used carrots 3-4 carrots and I added 3 small red russet potatoes. I served with with a baguette; cous-cous is a different dish than Tajine and in Morocco, they are generally not served together.

vermicelli salad

Last week I made lunch for a friend who is allergic to wheat and peanuts among other things. . I made a vermicelli bowl dish. At SIT I had some Phở which is a Vietnamese soup bowl. I wanted to make something cool and refreshing since it's hot (100F) and humid here in NC.

I used vermicelli noodles, made from mung bean (and thus allergen free) fresh veggies (carrots, lettuce), roasted red bell peppers, fresh herbs from my parents' garden (mint, lemon thyme, and chives), lemon, and Thai hot sauce. I cooked some chicken in lime juice, ginger and garlic.

All ingredients were chilled before serving. When making this, your guests would compose their own vermicelli bowl, selecting the herbs, veggies, meat and sauces at will.